Vali

Mixed Media (Acrylics, watercolor, graphite and a bit of pastel) on illustration board,

15 x 20

2010

$500

A tribute to Australian artist Vali Myers, a true inspiration in my art and life.

In progress: Vali

trying to redeem myself from the Tree of Life fiasco, i decided to forget it for a while and catch up with my list of projects. there was something disturbing me a couple nights ago and that just let me sleep after I grabbed my sketchbook and filled up a page with an almost mediumistic sketch. that was Vali Myers.



this preparatory sketch was made yesterday morning, and during all day long I dedicated myself to the labor of attempting to represent that mesmerizing woman. when Julia Inglis introduced me to her, some time ago, I was preparing material for my workshop "The Sun's Pathway" and recognized the synchronicity, because Vali was the perfect representation of the Sun in its full force (not mentioning that she was a Leo, sign ruled by the Sun.) leaving the comforts of her homeland to follow a remarkable trajectory, she was a true hero and left us lessons on freedom and living according to what our spirit inspires us. this has always been my philosophy of life, and this is the main reason why Vali 's figure touched me so deeply.









i used acrylics for the initial washes. the first idea was to put a mask with stylized sun rays above her head (Vali was a performing artist), but the mask was gradually transforming in the Sun itself. i love this stage showed in the 5th picture, with only the thin washes and the face rendered in graphite.







i felt so energized by that painting that i could get into the night doing it until having it completed. never worked so fast in a 15 x 20 painting before. before going to bed, at almost 1am, I still stayed for many minutes only looking at her, in a silent talk to her eyes. for a while, Vali was myself.

Painting, interrupted

and for the 5th time i rejected my Tree of Life project. the reason: not being able to achieve the desired transparency. i am not feeling secure with acrylics. i am picky, perfectionist. i cannot lift the damn paint off the board. i have to cover it every time I make a mistake, because it dries so fast. after 3 or 4 layers, you have a thick thing that cannot be redone. it creates disharmony with the rest of the painting that came out fine. and there you go try to find a solution for it. and then you have a snowball of problems. and all your vision goes down the drain. is that the end of my love affair with the acrylics?

guess it is time to hold my ambition and experiment more before going for huge 20 x 30 paintings.

my plan: come back to my old technique with watercolors and using acrylics for glazing and highlights.

now a little thing I made yesterday:

Sunflower and Moon

Watercolor and graphite on paper,

5 x 9.5

Sunflower and Moon was created to be the symbol of the Artessence project. The idea was to represent the  inner world, emotions and the feminine polarity (Moon) interacting with the Spirit, expression and masculine polarity (Sun). The sunflower represents creativity blossoming.

In progress: Tree of Life (5th attempt!!!)

it seems to be coming out now... although baby decided to play on it the other night using black paint. luckily it was in an area that can be easily fixed.

Workshop + Haiti help

two announcements today. first, is about the Creative Astrology workshop. I've been receiving inquiries from people interested in the workshop but unable to commit to 7 straight weeks of classes. I then decided to split the program in shorter workshops, of 10 days each -- same as the first one, Living the Four Elements. to start, I am releasing two workshops: The Sun's Pathway (starting on Feb 8th) and The Moon Within (starts on March 8th.) Workshops' content will be richer than in the first version, since we'll have more time for each one,  and the price dropped: $30 per workshop. by signing up for both classes, you pay only $50. spaces are limited to 12 people.

Haiti Relief help. UPDATE: yes, my design was accepted yesterday on the CafePress Haiti Relief Store. happy here. they didn't give me the credits (maybe because I have no store set up there?), but it doesn't matter. the good thing is that they have more marketing power and i hope that they are able to sell a lot of stuff. as for the RedBubble products, I'm afraid I'll have to put them on hold now. pity, since the t-shirts are so lovely!


since my design was not accepted on the CafePress store (they got too many submissions and were unable to use them all), i decided to release it on my RedBubble store. it is available as greeting cards, prints and those adorable t-shirts (I particularly love them.)
all the profits I get from those products sales will be donated to a Haiti Relief organization. it seems they will need it for a long time, situation is critical there. of course, RB profits are not that amazing, but every bottle of water bought with donated money counts, so, let's help, folks, even with your minimum. thank you!